Remember when there was no internet and you found super cool stuff via tv commercials and all you had to do was eat a ton of cereal to get the UPC codes to mail in? Then make the hopeful trek to the mailbox every.single.day., peering inside cautiously, praying for your goody to finally make it to your house?

Well, UPCs and box top goodies are still out there, but now they have "goodies" that appeal to adults.Quaker Oats has a community program on how to host "birthday parties with a purpose". Described as (from their site):

Birthdays are all about great times and being with the ones you care
about. Hosting a Birthday Party with a Purpose is a great way to
introduce children to the thrill of doing good for their communities
while experiencing all the fun of a traditional birthday party.

Our Birthday Party with a Purpose Kits were developed in partnership
with Kids Care Clubs, and have everything you need for the perfect
themed party with a volunteer activity.

Plus,
you can print FREE themed party materials, such as invitations, thank
you notes and more under the Party Themes.
Simply pick a party theme from the How-To-Guide and we'll go the extra
steps to show you how community, caring and birthday fun can go hand in
hand. For example, you'll get all the information you need to throw the
ultimate "Pirate Party," with a Treasure Hunt where kids can find
"loot" and use it to make treasure chests they can donate to children
at a local hospital.

How great is that? Party in a box! With lots of great themes and downloadable materials on their site.

Visit Quaker Oats to learn more about how to get the kit and see all the themes and materials!

February 26, 2009

The most divine box showed up on my doorstep recently. A box of .... liquid!

from my friends at

If you haven't heard of Stirrings, I'm even more delighted you visited today. Stirrings is a new line of signature cocktail drink mixers, sodas, bar ingredients and amazing gift sets.Not to mention they all come in packaging so fabulous you want to just keep them out for display. See? Go ahead... click on them to make them bigger. Get a nice view. ;)

Their site is filled with fabulous ways to blend the perfect concoction for your next occasion.Fabulous product as well as recipes on how to use them.

St. Patrick's Day is coming up!!!! I encourage you to begin thinking about your celebration now.Green drinks, anyone? Don't settle for that nasty green beer! Apple Martini? Mojito? Classic Margarita? Top them off with an amazing rimmer and garnish with even more green!

Planning a wedding? Stirrings has a special section on how creative drinks can liven up your event and add a unique touch.

I'm kicking off the weekend by mixing up a few of their drinks to sample!But... I want to kick-off a Thursday by announcing my next giveaway!

We'll be sending one lucky reader a full size Apple Martini mixer so you may live it up for St. Paddy's Day!

From the site:

An Apple a Day

The Apple Martini is unrivaled amongst its cocktail contemporaries for glamour and urban
sophistication. One sip of this luminescent libation and you will feel the warmth of the spotlight.
Introducing the first appletini using fresh juice and cane sugar. The apple's back - be green.

Did you know: Almost 6 lbs of fruit go into making one 32 oz bottle of our Apple Mixer. This is
equivalent to approximately 18 individual apples in every bottle.

February 24, 2009

So this past weekend, my husband and I finally took on the task of redoing our son's bedroom.He's 2. It was time. LOL

My parents were fabulous, as always, in keeping our son so we could turn our house into a working tornado. LOL

I've really been loving Craigslist as of late. Well, I've always loved it,and have sold a few things on there, but lately there are soo many great deals. Back in December, we lucked out in finding a twin sized race car bed for less than $100. Twin sized! Not toddler! And in mint condition!

Next, we found a fabulous painter on Craigslist. I'm the type that hates to paint. By the time I finish taping the space off, I'm over it. So when we found a painter with 35 years of experience willing to paint our toddler's room for $75, we were all over it. He came, knocked it out in 2 hours and it was a true professional job. There are many skilled trade pros that are looking for work now in this economy. I was thrilled that a) we got a great deal while b) we were giving someone work to help feed their family.

We had the room painted one day during the week and my son was thrilled when he came home from daycare. See? (You'll have to overlook the ovaltine on his mouth. LOL )

During the weekend, we set up his bed, put on his new car bedding and applied this super fun decals that I found on etsy. They come in pieces and you create your own design. They were a huge hit, see? So much of a hit that I'm going to put another set on an opposite wall and put them lower so he can play.

I made some artwork for his walls. Painted 2 pieces of stretched canvas and applied matchbox cars.Small canvases can be found at Big Lots for $2 each. Paint is $1 a bottle. You can even get the cars at the Dollar Store.

You can also see the car bookends, found at Target.

Here are the two pieces side by side on the wall.

My son loved them. Maybe a bit too much, because he's STILL asking to play with those cars. And he's disappointed every time when he can't.

Our son came home to a super surprise. He squealed and jumped up and down when he first saw the room. Then piled up on the bed with books and grinned ear to ear!

February 19, 2009

It seems everywhere you go you see some version of paper decorations. Great ways to dress up a bare corner or hang from a light fixture to add to your centerpiece. Make a few in different sizes and hang them at various heights.

Also, you could make a small one and lay it flat on a package to spruce up your gift wrapping.

February 18, 2009

I'm seriously considering turning a walk-in closet in my home into an office/craft room.I have tons of stuff and literally no home for it. I'm not a scrapbooker or even an everyday crafter, but still...every crafty person needs a space, like a man's garage to wrangle their stuff and call home.

Anyway, in thinking about that I ran across this chalkboard wall calendar that was originally an idea of Martha Stewart. This calendar is made with various shades of chalkboard paint. Very inspiring!

So I need ideas for closet conversions. If anyone has recently run across anything like this, please post a comment! I need inspiration to push me over the edge. LOL

February 17, 2009

I'm a large fan of play dough. I have no idea why. Maybe it was that fun barber shop from back in the day. Remember that?

Or my other favorite.. the dentist....

I LOVED those things!

And now, I have my own child and while I think he may be a bit too young to use play doh (he may still be in the eating phase), I'm putting back some great finds for when he and his future friends ARE old enough to enjoy the time honored tradition of Play Doh.

Of course, today, lots of Moms are taking on the task of making their own play dough. It's easy and inexpensive and a fun activity for your children.

Jadi, over at Homemaking Fun, recently shared her recipe for homemade play dough and how she and her daughter made play dough hearts for her friends.

February 15, 2009

Popping to make someone's week with the winner of the $25 GC to Favor Affair.

The big winner is

EMILY of the blog "Bentos, Bargains and Kids"who said:I
am in love with the “Hot Off the Grill!” Mini-Grill Tea Light with
Hamburger/Hot Dog Place Card/Photo Holder (Set of 4) - these would be
so cute at our summer cookouts!!!

Congratulations, Emily!I'll be contacting you to get your information for the generous folks at Favor Affair!

I loved having new visitors! I hope you guys stick around.I'll be having more giveaways in the future!

February 14, 2009

I accidentally fell asleep with my son while putting him to bed. So now I'm up at 2am putting out his Valentines goodies. It's like setting up for xmas all over again!

"Special K" (his nickname) is 2 so while he really doesn't grasp most holidays, it's fun to leave him some baubles and see his sweet face light up when he sees new treats. You know, the typical boy stuff, a large furry tarantula that jumps (he's into bugs these days), a slinky, a textured ball, balloon on a stick.... LOL

And mommy threw in some educational stuff like number/letter magnets and flashcards since he loves pointing out items that he recognizes.

Mailboxes from the dollar bin at Target! And decals from my buddy over at Decal Monograms on etsy.

February 13, 2009

In my previous life, I was a professional fundraiser for a nonprofit. That means lots of events... on the cheap. For an event surrounding Valentine's Day, I made these large Hershey Kiss type centerpieces. They were super cheap and a HUGE hit. Needless to say, clean up was easy. Everyone wanted to take them home! And we were fine with that because... they barely cost us anything! We weren't losing something we could use again.

You need very little materials.

newspaper

aluminum foil

wide, wired ribbon

pipe cleaners

Here's how it works.

First, take two large pieces of aluminum foil and overlap them in a plus sign.You determine how large you want the kiss to be by how long the foil is.

Next, take a single pipe cleaners and wrap a long piece of wired ribbon around one of the ends.Move the ribbon down just a hair and fold the pipe cleaner over to secure the ribbon a bit. You could even add a bit of hot glue if you're worried about children pulling it, etc.(sorry for the flash glare)

Lay that aside while you build the kiss.Open up the newspaper and lay it flat. Then pull the corners to the top like you were cinching a up a bag. Remember, to make the kiss bigger, use more newspaper. The newspaper will be the core of the kiss and will give it shape.

After you've cinched it up, you'll want to wrap your hands around the middle of the paper and press down. This will flatten out the bottom and create a base for the kiss. Remember, a kiss has a circular flat base.

Make sure the newspaper is in the center of the plus sign of foil, then begin pulling the corners of the foil up to meet at the top of the newspaper.

Make a pyramid with the foil.

When you get all the aluminum corners to the top, insert the pipe cleaner down into the kiss. (You can insert the pipe cleaner when you are molding the newspaper, but I prefer to put it in as one of the last stages, right before you close up the kiss.)

Then start shaping the foil to look like a kiss. You may have to press down on the kiss to get the base to flatten and you may have to be creative with the foil, pulling some sides out and pushing others in to get the shape you want.

As a final touch, you can add stick on letters to the ribbon to create a message... U R Cute, your children's name, etc.

These make great centerpieces! You can make them any size. Or, you can make them smaller and make several to sit around as accents. Also, you can hide treats inside if you don't mind someone ripping them apart to find them!